Morten Orum Madsen makes a dream start at the Nelson Mandela Championship
Things could not have started off so well for the Danish Morten Orum Madsen. Playing for the first time as a full member of the European Tour, the Dane shot a stunning round of 5-under 60 at the Royal Durban Golf Club to take the club house lead after the
first round.
The Nelson Mandela Championship finally got under way on Saturday after a delay of two days. The course was shortened to par-65 and the event was reduced to two rounds only.
Madsen did not have the best of the starts at the Royal Durban Golf Club, as he carded two bogeys in the first four holes, however, he turned things around nicely.
Orum carded birdies on the 5th, 8th and 9th hole to go one-under for the first nine. Four birdies on the back nine meant that the debutant finished 5-under for the day.
“It was fun,” said Madsen. “We have had a long wait to get started, but it was nice to finally get out there and hit some shots again”.
“I chipped in twice, and that’s sometimes what you’ve got to do to have the good rounds, you have to be a little fortunate”.
His performance on the back nine was very calm and composed. These are good signs for Madsen.
Madsen is currently a joint leader with South African, Tim Clark. Tim was also slow to get on the scorecard but late birdies helped him score a low round.
“It wasn’t that easy out there, but I was amazed at how good the greens were with all the rain they had,” said Clark.
Both Madsen and Clark know, with just one more round to go, they cannot afford a slip-up. They would need to stay very alert on Saturday and keep pushing for low scores to ensure that there are no hiccups.
It has been an impressive start from Madsen, it was not easy on the course as the rain had affected the field. Putting the ball on wet greens is a very difficult task and the way Dane was playing it seemed as if it was very easy out there.
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